Former All-Star Nash said: “I think a lot of the criticism is unfair. Like, we got to the All-Ireland final in 2013, we won Munster in 2014 and got to the league final in 2015.

“If it was any other county they’d be saying it was a successful period. Fair enough, 2016 didn’t work out the way we wanted it to.

“But it wasn’t as bad as people said. There were a couple of mixed performances. The thing about the GAA is that it is a very fickle business.

“One day you are deemed to be brilliant, the next day you are the worst in the world.”

Nash said the players and management were mature enough to learn from their mistakes. The sweeper system that failed so badly against Tipperary in the 2016 Championship was binned and Cork beat them in a thrilling 15 on 15 shootout this year.

It was a return to Cork traditions and supporters are now daring to dream that an All-Ireland challenge similar to 2013 is possible.

That’s what Nash means when he says that the GAA is a fickle business.

He said: “What we are trying to do now is remain level headed. We played Tipperary the last day, gave a solid performance, now that is gone. Going out against Waterford, we know it is going to be an absolutely ferocious game.”

Tipp and Kilkenny were the initial All-Ireland favourites but both have lost high profile games. League champions Galway replaced them as title tips though Waterford have been quietly going about their business.

The back to back All-Ireland semi-finalists have made no secret of the fact that they didn’t place much emphasis on this year’s league as they eyed up a summer breakthrough.

Nash said: “My mantra in my own head is that ‘We go again’. You can’t say what is going to happen against Waterford just because you beat Tipperary.

"It is going to be a completely different game. You don’t know what Waterford are going to bring, we can’t control that. All we can control is ourselves.”

Controlling his own emotions isn’t always easy for Nash who burst into celebration after beating Tipp. But he insisted it was business as usual by that evening.

He said: “You park it. Good performance, that was it. Nothing more. It has no value now.”